FIMA Ch115: Heaven Sent [Arc 7]

Today seemed to be the middle of the month. The night sky was full of a bright, round moon, and the moonlight was clear like water, making everything around it appear particularly distinct.

Whether it was the black-clad men stealthily moving and leaping between the eaves or the imperial guards searching everywhere with torches.

“Assassins, there are assassins! Catch the assassins!”

“Lord Nine-thousand was attacked!”

“Search every hall; one of the assassins was hit by Master Feng’s poisoned palm and can’t have gone far…”

Gu Siyuan’s already aching head grew more annoyed and irritated by the continuous chaotic noises.

He propped himself up on the bed, leaned slightly to the right, and pushed open the wide, carved window. Instantly, the cool night breeze, mixed with a faint fragrance of osmanthus, rushed in and brushed against his face.

The discomfort finally eased a bit.

The moonlight also shone through the open window, illuminating the room.

By this light, Gu Siyuan noticed the light yellow robe with dragon patterns he was wearing and the lavish yellow decorations all over the luxurious room.

His identity in this world was obvious.

He sat cross-legged by the window for a moment, silently processing the information in his mind.

This was a world with a mid-martial background, where martial arts, court, and noble families coexisted.

The prosperous central plains were currently unified under the name of the Great Zhou Dynasty, which had been in power for about twenty years.

But the Great Zhou court was already facing internal and external troubles. Internally, the eunuch Wei Zhengping, who called himself ‘Nine-thousand-year-old,’ was misleading the emperor, controlling the court with the Pure Officials’ Bureau, and wreaking havoc on the country. Externally, the four major noble families—Zhao, Qian, Shen, and Song—had joined forces with various martial arts sects to carve out territories and disrupt the peace with martial power.

The common people, having not yet recovered from the century-long chaos of the previous era, were on the verge of facing another short-lived regime and a fragmented nation.

Of course, as the saying goes, troubled times produce heroes.

In this world, the main character, Tang Sheng, is the key figure influencing the direction of the Central Plains regime.

Tang Sheng’s parents died, and he was raised by his foster father, the great southern magnate Tang Tianying.

Tang Sheng was quite intelligent from a young age, uninterested in making money or doing business, and only wanted to practice martial arts and roam the world with a sword. He dreamed of one day going to the prosperous Central Plains.

Finally, at the age of eighteen, he successfully sneaked down the mountain.

It was a time of chaos, and Tang Sheng, with his inadequate skills and first experience down the mountain, naturally encountered many difficulties.

However, as the protagonist, he had extraordinary luck.

During this process, he made significant gains, not only greatly improving his martial arts skills and internal power but also making friends through fights. He befriended Situ Feng, Xie Mingkong, and two beauties, Shen Luoshuang and Sun Yanyan.

After several interactions, the young Tang Sheng fell deeply in love with one of the beauties, the mysterious and complex Sun Yanyan.

Tang Sheng even planned to take her home to meet his family.

Of course, things were not that simple.

Sun Yanyan did not genuinely love Tang Sheng but approached him with a plan.

A few months ago, shortly after Tang Sheng descended the mountain, he accidentally entered a dangerous place and, by chance, obtained half of the most mysterious martial arts manual of the time, the “Xiantian Qiankun Gong,” and learned the secret of the token that could choose the next ruler of the chaotic world.

Naturally, this attracted the attention of various forces.

Sun Yanyan’s true identity was that of the adopted daughter of the court eunuch, ‘Nine-thousand-year-old’ Wei Zhengping, and her purpose in approaching Tang Sheng was to deceive him and obtain these two treasures for her adoptive father.

Now, seeing that Tang Sheng was smitten with Sun Yanyan, other forces became anxious and started devising ways to expose her.

Sun Yanyan was ruthless and, to cover her identity, did not hesitate to kill many innocent people.

The more one does, the more mistakes one makes.

Tang Sheng’s friends began to notice Sun Yanyan’s odd behavior.

Finally, when they traveled to the outskirts of Jinling City and visited Xie Mingkong’s family estate, under Xie Mingkong and Shen Luoshuang’s probing, Sun Yanyan attempted to kill to silence them, and her true identity was hastily revealed.

Tang Sheng was heartbroken but, remembering their past affection, couldn’t bring himself to kill her. Despite strong opposition from his friends, he insisted on letting Sun Yanyan go.

However, Sun Yanyan was not content.

Although she initially approached Tang Sheng with deceit, she had genuinely fallen in love with him by then.

She was extremely jealous of Shen Luoshuang’s feelings for Tang Sheng and hated Xie Mingkong for exposing her. Before leaving, she poisoned Shen Luoshuang and Xie Mingkong with a deadly poison from the Imperial Secret Service.

Tang Sheng had no choice but to find an antidote.

At this time, ‘Nine-thousand-year-old’ Wei Zhengping had persuaded the puppet emperor to visit Jiangnan, and they were staying at the palace in Jinling, likely carrying the antidote.

That night, Tang Sheng, along with his friend Situ Feng and Xie Mingkong’s brother Xie Chenyun, secretly infiltrated the palace.

Despite many obstacles and injuries to his companions, Tang Sheng not only obtained the antidote but also accidentally acquired the other half of the “Xiantian Qiankun Gong.”

However, upon returning to Xie’s estate at dawn, they encountered a major upheaval.

Sun Yanyan had returned with the Imperial Secret Service and captured Shen Luoshuang, Xie Mingkong, and others as hostages.

She forced Tang Sheng to leave with her and start anew, even demanding he scar Shen Luoshuang’s face, or she would kill everyone present.

Tang Sheng refused, and a fight ensued.

During the fight, Xie Mingkong was killed by the Imperial Secret Service, and many others were injured.

Tang Sheng, however, still could not bring himself to kill Sun Yanyan, letting her escape again.

Xie Chenyun, as Xie Mingkong’s brother, could not accept this outcome. He turned red-eyed and confronted Tang Sheng, even wanting to kill him.

If Tang Sheng had not spared that viper woman, his brother would not have died.

More importantly, even after seeing his brother die in front of him, Tang Sheng still let the murderer go.

But Tang Sheng’s martial arts skills were on par with Xie Chenyun’s, and with the help of Situ Feng and the recovered Shen Luoshuang, they managed to escape from Xie’s estate.

After escaping, Tang Sheng felt deeply regretful about Xie Mingkong’s accidental death and resolved never to forgive Sun Yanyan again.

Thus, he ended up with Shen Luoshuang, who had always been waiting for him.

At that time, the four great aristocratic families Zhao, Qian, Shen, and Song, each supported a powerful martial arts sect: Cangyun Mountain, Xijian Sect, Mingyue Palace, and Yuhuo Sect.

Among them, the Yuhuo Sect was often considered a demonic sect due to its peculiar practices.

Three people were recognized as having reached the level of grandmasters in the world.

One was the court eunuch ‘Nine-thousand-year-old’ Wei Zhengping, who practiced the “Sunflower Manual,” the second was Zhao Yunkong, the current leader of Cangyun Mountain, and the third was Song Wudi, the leader of Yuhuo Sect.

To avenge his brother, Xie Chenyun joined Yuhuo Sect, determined to master martial arts and destroy the Imperial Secret Service, killing Sun Yanyan.

Coincidentally, his physique was highly suitable for practicing Yuhuo Sect’s supreme martial art, “Nirvana Sacred Manual,” and he was soon accepted as a disciple by Song Wudi, becoming the sect’s heir.

Over two years later, chaos erupted in the world.

The four aristocratic families and numerous factions, under the banner of clearing the court, launched attacks against ‘Nine-thousand-year-old’ Wei Zhengping’s faction from both the martial world and the court.

Xie Chenyun, as the heir of Yuhuo Sect, joined the battle with the Song faction, which had a good relationship with Yuhuo Sect. This was what he had long awaited to avenge his brother and the Xie family.

On the battlefield, Xie Chenyun unexpectedly reunites with the main character, Tang Sheng.

Originally, after leaving Xie’s estate, Tang Sheng intended to marry Shen Luoshuang and roam the world together.

However, Shen Luoshuang was actually the daughter of the Shen family, one of the four great aristocratic families, and her marriage had already been arranged. The Shen family looked down on someone like Tang Sheng, and the two were forced to part.

Feeling deeply humiliated by the Shen family, Tang Sheng swore to make a name for himself and win back Shen Luoshuang.

So, he and his friend Situ Feng joined the rebel forces of the Wu family in Jingchu.

Due to their martial prowess, the two were highly valued by the Wu family leader.

During a siege, the Wu family leader was severely injured and died in battle. On his deathbed, he entrusted his only daughter, Wu Man’er, to Tang Sheng. Thus, Tang Sheng naturally became the new leader of the rebel forces.

After two years of expansion and development, this rebel army had become a formidable force, second only to the four great aristocratic families, and was renamed the Tang Family Army.

This time, the Tang Family Army joined the four great aristocratic families in the campaign to cleanse the court.

During the assault on the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Tang Family Army performed exceptionally well, not only possessing many experts but also having excellent intelligence, earning significant merit.

In the course of the war, the Tang Family Army further expanded, soon surpassing the four great aristocratic families.

The Shen family no longer dared to underestimate Tang Sheng, and Shen Luoshuang was able to reunite with him.

Xie Chenyun merely sneered coldly at this, making no comment.

Now, he only wanted to avenge his brother and the people of Xie’s estate, who had died unjustly.

Finally, the allied forces broke into the capital and stormed the Imperial Secret Service. Together, they killed the treacherous Wei Zhengping.

Xie Chenyun did not forget that Sun Yanyan was the real culprit. Just as he was about to kill her, Tang Sheng appeared and saved her.

Tang Sheng shamelessly claimed that Xie Chenyun should let it go, saying that Sun Yanyan had turned over a new leaf and provided many clues for the assault on the capital and the Imperial Secret Service.

Others praised Sun Yanyan as a courageous heroine and commended Tang Sheng for his charm in making a wicked woman turn over a new leaf.

Even Shen Luoshuang and Wu Man’er had no objections, stating that Tang Sheng’s gentle treatment of women who loved him showed he was a man of affection and loyalty, making him worthy of their love.

Xie Chenyun felt nothing but disgust.

How could a man with multiple wives talk about loyalty?

Moreover, was there only romantic love in this world? Was there no loyalty to friends? Wasn’t his brother, Xie Mingkong, once Tang Sheng’s friend?

Did those who died at Sun Yanyan’s hands die in vain?

Thus, Xie Chenyun couldn’t be bothered with them and directly attacked with his inner strength.

Tang Sheng immediately countered.

Having come this far, Tang Sheng had seen many beauties and no longer cared as much about Sun Yanyan as he once did. However, now that he had achieved great success and was above everyone else, he deeply resented any opposition.

Xie Chenyun was too disrespectful.

After obtaining the complete “Xiantian Qiankun Gong” at the Jinling palace, Tang Sheng’s strength had greatly increased. Even though Xie Chenyun had mastered the “Nirvana Sacred Manual,” he was still no match for Tang Sheng.

In the end, during the critical moment of their battle, Xie Chenyun was killed by a sneak attack from Sun Yanyan.

Tang Sheng looked at Xie Chenyun’s corpse and sighed deeply, saying, “Although he was stubborn, for the sake of my old friend Xie Mingkong, I’ll leave his body intact and buy a coffin.”

The next part of the story would be about Tang Sheng’s conquests, expanding his harem, and aiming for supremacy in the world.

…

A gentle breeze brushed against his face.

Gu Siyuan steadied himself.

There was no doubt that his original body was the puppet emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, supported by the eunuch Wei Zhengping, and would be killed in two years, losing his country.

The beginning… wasn’t too bad, right?

Just then, a dark shadow suddenly flashed through the open window, and Gu Siyuan felt a sudden weight on his leg.

A familiar, cold mechanical voice sounded in his mind.

“Host, hello, this is your mission target for this world—Xie Chenyun.”

“This mission: Change Xie Chenyun’s fate and make him happy.

“Success reward: One lottery chance.

“Failure penalty: No reward.”

Gu Siyuan looked down at the black-clad person who had fallen into his arms, raising an eyebrow with interest.

The clear breeze and bright moon were indeed romantic, delivering a beauty into his embrace?